Disability

[beth01]

I know there are posts out there about this subject, but they all seem old. 

 

Has anyone had any luck filing for disability benefits?  I am getting a copy of my eleventeen gazillion page medical report and trying to figure out which information is going to be the most relevant or if I should just give it all to them.  Do I need my doctor involved or is that only if I need to appeal?  I am hoping to at least get the whole application process started and maybe ( not holding my breath) a preliminary answer from SSI before I go see my doc July 8th.

 

Any thoughts or experiences would be appreciated.  Thanks in advance.

[littleliffy]

I also filed for short term disability but I'm waiting for approval. I just forced myself to go back part time. Why did you go on disability? I got diagnosed a month ago and suffer from shortness of breath, fatigue, weakness and nausea.

[beth01]

I am applying for SSI disability. 

 

I am not sure about your story but I have been sick my whole life, I am 37 now.  I have osteoarthritis in my spine, Grave's disease, severe weight loss >160 pounds and still dropping ( I weigh 150), I had chronic migraines ( 3-4 a week but haven't had any now in the last two months), severe vitamin deficiencies, and the list goes on.

 

I am just starting my process with the state and not sure if I need my doctor involved in the initial process or if I get him involved if I am turned down and need an appeal. I didn't have a job when I was diagnosed so therefore I didn't have the short term disability available to me. I have my complete medical history for them if they are interested in 1000 page books lol.  I can't imagine I would get turned.

[captaincrab55]

Do you have any hearing loss?

[littleliffy]

That sounds really difficult. I hope you get it. It sounds like you should!!

[beth01]

Nope no hearing loss. 

[Adalaide]

I just recently got my second denial, which at least means that the next decision comes in a courtroom. Thankfully, no judge will look at this crap and deny me. Once you start the paperwork, it'll explain exactly what you need and don't need. Basically, you'll them access to request all of your medical records from every medical anyone you've ever seen for as long as you are claiming. You can tell your doctor you are filing, and make sure that you are getting your doctor to keep detailed information in your record. If you go to your doctor to make a complaint about this or that, make sure it gets written down! Other than that, there isn't anything to involve them in. Just fill out the paperwork and play their game.

[beth01]

Thank you Adalaide.  I hope everything works out for you in the end.  It seems that the legal system and even the medical system just doesn't understand what we go through and the mental anguish this damn disease causes unless they have been through it and have their own personal experience with it.

[Marilyn R]

Thank you Adalaide.  I hope everything works out for you in the end.  It seems that the legal system and even the medical system just doesn't understand what we go through and the mental anguish this damn disease causes unless they have been through it and have their own personal experience with it.

 

I ended up signing up with a representative.  I just couldn't handle all of the paperwork.  They completed all of the paperwork and submitted it for me.  I've been denied twice, even with Lupus with liver involvement  and Celiac.  I've waited a year for the trial now.  They're going to do a video conference trial.  The  most the  rep or attorney  can charge is  $6,000  or 10% of the back pay, which ever is less. I'm dealing with a company out of state.  They were recommended by our local school system.  I don't think i would have been able to plow through that paperwork without them.  If you want the details of the company I use, send me a message....  SS doesn't make it easy, that's for sure.

[Gemini]

I am applying for SSI disability. 

 

I am not sure about your story but I have been sick my whole life, I am 37 now.  I have osteoarthritis in my spine, Grave's disease, severe weight loss >160 pounds and still dropping ( I weigh 150), I had chronic migraines ( 3-4 a week but haven't had any now in the last two months), severe vitamin deficiencies, and the list goes on.

 

I am just starting my process with the state and not sure if I need my doctor involved in the initial process or if I get him involved if I am turned down and need an appeal. I didn't have a job when I was diagnosed so therefore I didn't have the short term disability available to me. I have my complete medical history for them if they are interested in 1000 page books lol.  I can't imagine I would get turned.

You know, Beth, many of your symptoms from Celiac will abate and go away with time on the diet.  Many of us were at death's door and made a complete recovery, after many years of suffering. It is possible that you will recover well enough that you can work eventually.  It sounds like you need short term disability as opposed to SSI disability. Does SSI offer short term?  I do not know much about disability insurance because I recovered and work full time now, so never needed it.

 

It is not easy getting SSI and it should be that way because there are just too many people who abuse the system.  You know how it works......the ones who need it don't get it and the ones who should not qualify seem to find a way to do so. It can be a very unfair system, like many things. But Celiac Disease and it's related health problems rarely are permanent enough that you can't recover and be well.  I hope you have this outcome!

[GF Lover]

I know there are posts out there about this subject, but they all seem old. 

 

Has anyone had any luck filing for disability benefits?  I am getting a copy of my eleventeen gazillion page medical report and trying to figure out which information is going to be the most relevant or if I should just give it all to them.  Do I need my doctor involved or is that only if I need to appeal?  I am hoping to at least get the whole application process started and maybe ( not holding my breath) a preliminary answer from SSI before I go see my doc July 8th.

 

Any thoughts or experiences would be appreciated.  Thanks in advance.

 

If you don't have any debilitating issues aside from Celiac, it is highly unlikely that you will qualify.  Most people have a 1 to 2 year wait until a final decision is made by Social Security.  As Gemini said, you should be right as rain by then and be living a healthy life.

 

Colleen

[beth01]

"Should be" and " It is possible" really don't give me a time frame or a guarantee that I will feel better and able to get a job. Last I heard arthritis in your spine isn't reversible. Might be due to my celiac, but it's something I have had for eight years and is getting worse.  Evidence seen on MRI's.  I can't sit or stand for extended amounts of time.  I can stand for about 4 hours straight, but not without pain pills. I can sit for even less.

 

I have had 15 surgeries over the course of 20 years.  Looks like more in my future.  Right now the doctors are searching for a cause for my still dramatic weight loss- a half a pound a day.  Two years ago I was considered morbidly obese, now I am anorexic ( not the disease, classification of my weight to height).  My hemoglobin, hematocrit and platelets are also on the decline, my hemoglobin is down two grams in less than a month and my platelets went from 300 down to 90. The doctors are talking cancer, now to find it if it's there. More testing, more medical bills, no job to pay for it all.

 

I have a live in boyfriend that I will probably be with for the rest of my life, but I don't think it's his responsibility to pay all my past medical bills. I don't know if I will even make it financially without a job for a year if that is my recovery time.  I have already cleaned out my retirement, won't be retiring ever.  Even when I was married we couldn't keep up with the medical bills, still paying from the previous year before the next year starts.

 

I can't even sue for medical malpractice even though over twenty doctors and four hospitals took 37 years to figure this crap out.  Two of the doctors are allergists!  That is outrageous.

 

Or maybe it's just a clear cut case of celiac and all my other health problems will magically disappear in the process. Not holding my breath.

 

Now does anyone know if SSI is retroactive?  If I start my process now and am denied and then later approved do they pay you from the original filing date?

[GF Lover]

I know that SSD is retroactive but I'm unsure about SSI.  I hope you don't end up with cancer but more and more cancers are being added to the automatic approval for SSD.  Maybe you should look at SSD also.  If you have a strong case with backup medical data you could be approved in as little as 6 months or so.  You'll also want your Doctors to write a statement as to why you are debilitated and cannot work.

 

I would also advise you to apply for bill assistance at the medical centers that you go to.  That is typically not retroactive so the sooner you apply the better.  Even with financial assistance I will most likely be paying on medical bills until I die.  It's a crime really.

 

All of my medical issues did not automatically resolve.  Sometimes the damage is too far along and its for life.  I looked into a lawsuit against one of my Doctors some time ago for dangerously over medicating me.  The case was well documented and solid.  I was advised that the chances of actually winning was extremely low, I dropped it.  Just wasn't worth it to me.  

 

Keep at it Beth.  If it's worth having, it's worth fighting for.

 

Colleen

[beth01]

Oh my brain fog- SSDI is what I am applying for.  I am not older than 65 lol, so it's not SSI.

 

That being said, I am getting my medical records in the next few weeks. I guess it takes a while to print all that crap out from four hospitals. I know it says to not wait until you have all relevant medical evidence but I want to make sure I am as prepared as I need to be.  I also can't let this damn brain fog cloud my memory of 37 years of medical visits.  I was counting on the mycare site of my current hospital and between hospital stays, clinic visits, and emergency room visits, I have 43 of them in the last year.  Who the hell sees the doctor that much?

 

I will have to look into the bill pay help from the hospital, I didn't even know that stuff existed. The lady at the electric company knows my voice when I call now, this stuff is so embarrassing and frustrating.  It sucks that we have to give so much money to people that really haven't helped us at all.  Doctor's suck, too bad we need them so bad.

 

Thanks for your comments.  It's all really appreciated.